One of BECS’ areas of expertise is in decision science, which is greatly needed to help society face complex situations brought about by the many differing demands that are placed on the natural world. The climate is not the only part of the Earth system that is changing; land-use change, extractive industries, agricultural practices and many other human activities have caused and are causing other environmental shifts as well. Decisions about all of these are multi-faceted, and there are trade-offs that must be made. BECS seeks to improve the process of making decisions, as well as to contribute understanding of causes and consequences of environmental changes and the decisions that are made about them.

Current Projects

Risk Management and Governance in Shale Gas Development

Two workshops will consider the full range of risks associated with hydrologic fracturing extraction technologies, and the governance mechanisms that might be used to minimize those risks. Read more...

Sustainability Science: Preparing for 9 Billion on the Planet

This project will be a public workshop that will examine key underlying paradigms of both social and natural science, as they relate to human population size, population growth, aging populations, migration toward cities, and differential resource consumption, land use change, etc. Read more...

Everyone--government agencies, private organizations, and individuals--is facing a changing climate: an environment in which it is no longer prudent to follow routines based on past climatic averages....
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Federal agencies have taken steps to include the public in a wide range of environmental decisions. Although some form of public participation is often required by law, agencies usually have broad...
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This study recommends a definition of "decision support" that emphasizes communication rather than translation and a strategy by which the small NOAA Sectoral Applications Research program can advance...
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Sustainability is one of today’s many pressing issues that the National Academies addresses via studies and other mechanisms. National Academies studies relevant to sustainability are numerous and...
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